Matthew Knies scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs skated to a 3-2 victory over the host Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Auston Matthews added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, giving him seven points in three games since returning from an upper-body injury. Joseph Woll made 30 saves for Toronto, while John Tavares chipped in with a goal and an assist for the visitors.
The Maple Leafs have won five games in a row. They swept this week’s home-and-home series with the Flyers after posting a 3-2 overtime victory north of the border on Sunday.
Travis Konecny scored twice in this one for Philadelphia, which has lost four of its last five games. Ivan Fedotov finished with 14 saves for the hosts.
The decisive goal came with 6:39 left shortly after a faceoff in the Maple Leafs’ offensive zone. Morgan Rielly, who scored the overtime goal in Sunday’s contest, was involved in the pivotal action once again.
The defenseman took a shot from the left point with heavy traffic in front and Knies got a piece of it, deflecting it past Fedotov.
Woll preserved the lead down the stretch with a glove save on Rasmus Ristolainen with three minutes left.
Shortly thereafter, Woll held his ground on a scramble in front of the net with the Philadelphia goalie pulled. Then with just over a minute left, Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov set up Owen Tippett with a wide-open net, but his one-timer misfired.
With 47 seconds to go, Knies was whistled for hooking against Michkov. Philadelphia had two terrific chances on the ensuing power play, but Woll stopped one-timers by Michkov and Konecny to secure the victory.
Konecny scored in the first period and Tavares answered early in the second before the teams traded goals midway through the middle session.
Noah Cates stole the puck from Conor Timmins in the corner, then passed in front to a wide-open Konecny, who slipped a backhander through Woll’s pads. However, the lead did not last long, as Mitch Marner found Matthews in the slot for a shot that made it 2-2 just 41 seconds later.
–Field Level Media
